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How do you justify traveling?

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RevenantKioku said:
I'm doing the math on this trip to Tokyo I am taking, and it is maddening.
$150 to get there
$120 for three nights of hotels
$150 to get back.
That's JUST for the basics! Never mind getting around while I am there, food and drinks. Holy shit. That's going to push it to at leas a $500~$600 weekend. A weekend! I have the money, but how can I even begin to justify spending that chunk of cash? It just seems so illogical to spend that kind of money on going somewhere temporarily.

Dude, it costs me over $1000 just to fly home (round-trip; and closer to $1500 over X-mas) from one side of Canada to the other. $500 for a round-trip flight and weekend in Tokyo sounds cheap.
 
Uhm, if I could pay $300 for a round trip to Japan right now, I wouldn't even blink at paying that. And you justify it by saying that you're improving your life by going different places and seeing different things, instead of just spending it on stupid shit that does nothing to improve your life.
 
Solo said:
Dude, it costs me over $1000 just to fly home (round-trip; and closer to $1500 over X-mas) from one side of Canada to the other. $500 for a round-trip flight and weekend in Tokyo sounds cheap.
I think this is from another city in Japan to Tokyo. :P
 
RevenantKioku said:
Yeah but that "improving your life by going different places and seeing different things" is bullshit.
It's just the plain math. The same amount of money is one month of college loans, or all the games I want to buy for the rest of the year times two. It will probably be fun, but the stress of traveling pretty much nullifies that in the end.
Well if it were a choice between traveling to Toyko and affording videogames, I know what I'd pick. But that's just me.
 
Travelling is expensive and you can spend thousands on just a short week long trip, but you can also do it cheaply if you're clever. I suppose I have it easier living in Europe but I can get away to Italy, Spain, France etc. for pretty cheap if I book with a budget airline and stay in a hostel.

Going to the far east is obviously more expensive but for most it's something you do maybe two or three times in your entire lifetime so when you put it into perspective it's not too bad. If you're young and don't have much to tie you down maybe look into teaching abroad. My friend is leaving for South Korea to teach English in a few weeks and it's not going to cost him a penny. All his flights/accommodation are paid for, and he'll be getting more than enough to live on comfortably. That's a pretty cheap way to visit another country.
 
RevenantKioku said:
Yeah but that "improving your life by going different places and seeing different things" is bullshit.
It's just the plain math. The same amount of money is one month of college loans, or all the games I want to buy for the rest of the year times two. It will probably be fun, but the stress of traveling pretty much nullifies that in the end.

What's your justification in buying those video games?
 
RevenantKioku said:
Cheapest that I could find. Even that just seems expensive to me. I'm very cheap, I know. "/

Being frugal and being unreasonable are two different things. You can't even get a chain motel/hotel for $40/night in a rural area anymore. And this is within a metropolis? Bite the fucking bullet and hope you don't get crab lice for that price.
 
RevenantKioku said:
I'm doing the math on this trip to Tokyo I am taking, and it is maddening.
$150 to get there
$120 for three nights of hotels
$150 to get back.
That's JUST for the basics! Never mind getting around while I am there, food and drinks. Holy shit. That's going to push it to at least a $500~$600 weekend. A weekend! I have the money, but how can I even begin to justify spending that chunk of cash? It just seems so illogical to spend that kind of money on going somewhere temporarily.

Are you sleeping in a capsule hotel?? That's a damn good rate for Tokyo. Not sure where you're coming from, but the cheapest way to get there on Honshu is actually an overnight bus - you can get one from Kansai for about 8000en.
 
RevenantKioku said:
I would have to take off work to do an overnight bus, and I don't like the idea of doing that.
I'm coming from a little place in Nara prefecture. Even if I was able to overnight bus for the thing, that's ÂĄ16,000 both ways, and we're still totaling over $300 for a weekend and that just seems maddening to me.

Sorry man. Tokyo's just not a cheap trip no matter how you slice it. And if you're going for shopping you're probably not going to find much you can't get cheaper in Osaka. And get ready to drop at least a few more man when you're actually there. It's just not something you can really do in any meaningful way for under 7 or 8 man.

And this thread really relates to the cost of traveling to Tokyo more than anything; from where you are you could do a weekend in Seoul, flight hotel & all for less.
 
It was me or them.

^^^ Or you could go to Paris and have the sexy time with a hooker.
 
Why does one do anything in life that is purely meant for enjoyment or entertainment? Why do you buy video games? Why do you go see movies? Why do you buy ANYTHING except food, water, and shelter?

The answer is because you have to enjoy life while you are here.
 
Who exactly are you justifying this to? Will spending the money prevent you from paying bills or eating?

Fuck man, either go or don't. This is not hard.
 
RevenantKioku said:
That's irrelevant, though. Sure, I do things that I enjoy. That does not justify something ridiculous like spending $150 to be a few hours somewhere else. And then $40 to sleep somewhere? I already have a place to live!

It all depends on what you want out of life. I try to take one vacation a year. I enjoy traveling places. You seem to already have your mind made up, so no one here is going to convince you otherwise. Have fun.
 
RevenantKioku said:
That's irrelevant, though. Sure, I do things that I enjoy. That does not justify something ridiculous like spending $150 to be a few hours somewhere else. And then $40 to sleep somewhere? I already have a place to live!

I don't know what to tell you, man. Go for the experience of being somewhere new, seeing new things, experiencing new events. Crap I'd find it hard to NOT justify spending $300 going to Tokyo, but then I live in Ohio...

I guess it's just a mindset. I'm a fairly frugal guy but dropped about ~ $1700 in Vegas in 3.5 days in June having a good time with my buddies. I'm glad I did it too. Guess it's a to each their own type thing.
 
shidoshi said:
Uhm, if I could pay $300 for a round trip to Japan right now, I wouldn't even blink at paying that. And you justify it by saying that you're improving your life by going different places and seeing different things, instead of just spending it on stupid shit that does nothing to improve your life.

Helps to live in Japan. RK is just coming out from the country side to visit. It is not like he is paying $300 to come to Tokyo from the States or something
 
RevenantKioku said:
That's irrelevant, though. Sure, I do things that I enjoy. That does not justify something ridiculous like spending $150 to be a few hours somewhere else. And then $40 to sleep somewhere? I already have a place to live!

What? It's completely relevent. Why do you buy a new game or see a new movie? You already have a game, and you probably have seen a movie. So why get another one? The justification you use to buy anything for entertainment that isn't a necesity easily applies to going on a trip. Just like how people can justify paying $60 for play tickets that will last two hours when a movie costs only $10.
 
RevenantKioku said:
Cost-value?
Well, if you think playing videogames is a better value for less money, then no one is stopping you.

But then, couldnt you just say you couldn't justify traveling since there's less value to it than doing other things?
 
RevenantKioku said:
Well, like I said I won't know if the weekend is worth it until the money is all spent. I am just really uncomfortable parting with that much money.

:lol :lol


you should use that line on the ladies....
 
Wow man, you really need to loosen up a bit. If you want to do it, then do it. However, if you do it with the mindset that it's not going to be worth the money you won't have a good time.
 
Solo said:
Dude, it costs me over $1000 just to fly home (round-trip; and closer to $1500 over X-mas) from one side of Canada to the other. $500 for a round-trip flight and weekend in Tokyo sounds cheap.
I was about to say this...


minus all the stuff about canada
 
RevenantKioku said:
I'm doing the math on this trip to Tokyo I am taking, and it is maddening.
$150 to get there
$120 for three nights of hotels
$150 to get back.
That's JUST for the basics! Never mind getting around while I am there, food and drinks. Holy shit. That's going to push it to at least a $500~$600 weekend. A weekend! I have the money, but how can I even begin to justify spending that chunk of cash? It just seems so illogical to spend that kind of money on going somewhere temporarily.

Do it because you want to, and stop pretending humans are logical or rational.
 
RevenantKioku said:
Well, like I said I won't know if the weekend is worth it until the money is all spent. I am just really uncomfortable parting with that much money.

The same could be said about a movie or a game. You don't know if it will be worth it till well into the game or movie. You clearly have your answer that the money does not justify the experience.

A better example is I love movies, TV, and hockey. TV gives me two hours of entertainment for free. Movies gives me two hours of entertainment but costs me $10. Hockey gives me two hours of entertainment but will cost me $80. All three give me two hours of entertainment of watching something but at different costs. For some reason I wouldn't pay $80 for a movie but I'll put down $80 for hockey.

So clearly in your case, the experience of travel with new places, new things to see and experience has the entry cost of travel and lodging. That applies to traveling to anywhere for more than one day. If you don't like parting with the money, then the experience is not worth the value and traveling is not for you. Your loss, but the clear answer is you should not go if you're having this much trouble deciding on it.
 
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